Elusive snow leopards caught on film stealing camera

O HAI: A snow leopard checks out a camera trap on a high mountain in Tajikistan. (Panthera/FFI) Snow leopards are one of the most elusive cats on Earth. Not only is the species endangered, but it is notoriously shy, and much about where snow leopards live in the wild remains mysterious. So researchers got a big surprise when a set of 11 camera traps installed in a lonely corner of Tajikistan revealed at least five snow leopards were living in the region, including a mother with two young cubs. The motion-sensing camera traps were set high in the remote Pamir Mountains. Over the three-month study period, the cameras snapped pictures of a parade of creatures — mountain ibex, Marco Polo sheep (the largest in the world), a rare mountain weasel, a variety of birds and the family of snow leopards. [See photos of the snow leopards and other animals here .] "This is the first deta...